I fished Tim’s out of Rock Creek today and the 5 above was my best of nine. I’m still working on the camera angle-www.rapala.com I caught most of them on a new rapala bait that won’t be out until December or JanuMore info to come later I throw 90% of all my crankbait of Sufix Clear Blue 6lb Pro Mix Mono www.sufix.com Thanks for visiting my site Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com
SORRY ABOUT THE PICTURES—My main camera died and I tried to take these with my cell phone-and obviously not very well. I actually caught and released 14 today-I just gave up on taking pictures. Everything was on either a VMC Weedless 1/8ounce Finesse Jig www.vmchooks.com and soft plastic. !0lb Sufix Yellow Performance Braid and a 8lb Sufix Fluorocarbon or a Storm Swim Bait rigged on 1/4 ounce VMC Darter Head Jig 8lb Sufix Clear Blue Pro Mix Mono. I plan to fish Thursday this week as well and will have the camera situation worked out by then. Thank you for visiting my site. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com
Just returned from Lake Hartwell on a short 3 1/2 day trip. For those 3 days Tim and I caught and released 4 Largemouth-1 Hybrid-65 Spots-the pictures above will give you a good idea of what we caught. Conditions changed each of the 4 days. Sunday when I got there at 11:30am (bright sun shine & 70’s) there was a Major League event with 250 boats plus all the wake boats pontoon boats and wave runners. We Caught most of our fish Sunday on crankbaits-I was throwing a Ott”s Tiny River Shad and the Tiny Green Gizzard Shad-Tuesday It was overcast /rain and high 50’s Most of my fish came on a Rapala Holo Bone Skitter Walk which they would crush. www.rapala.com Fun Plus! Tuesday and Wednesday it was high 70’s and low 80’s and bright sun shine and you couldn’t buy a top water or crankbait bite but they would get all over a Fluke rigged on a VMC Wide Gap Hook weightless. vmchooks.com We had a lot of wind each day up to 20MPH changing directions it seemed 2 or 3 times each day. I used 6 and 8lb Sufix Clear Blue Pro Mix 80% of the time www.sufix.com The accommodations at the Togaloo State Park was wonderful-Great cottage with it’s own boat dock where 2 old guys could tie up at noon-eat lunch-take a break and catch a short nap before we went back out. Thanks for visiting my site-My Rotator Cuff in my right arm is better–this was a good test to see how I was going to do. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com
Ken and I fished Tim’s yesterday and “I THOUGHT” we were going to be in for a great crankbait/Jerbait day. Over cast good wind a little light rain good water color due to recent heavier rains. “Wrong” We concentrated on Many areas the gave up fish last week on a crankbait by we zeroed. The big “0”. So we switched over toward the end of our trip and put 4 in the boat (2 good ones) and had my line break at the leader knot on one. Even throwing finesse stuff the bite was hard to come by. VMC 3/16th Weedless Finesse Jigs www.vmchooks.com and Soft plastics rigged on Sufix 10lb Yellow Performance Braid and 8lb Sufix Fluorocarbon. www.sufix.com Water temp was still in the high 49 range but with all of the warm weather that we are having it has to start warming. Thanks for visiting my site. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com
I’m trying to reach a man named JOHN BENNETT if you know him please have him call me at 615-308-9936 Thanks Rick
Fished Tim’s for 4 hours today-I put in at Holiday and there is no problem getting in or out. All I did was throw a crankbait and a Jerkbait. The 4 above hit a Luhr-Jensen Texas Red Speed Trap I also lost 1 on this same bait. You can view these baits on our Rapala site at www.rapala.com 6Lb test Sufix Clear Blue Pro Mix www.sufix.com and a VMC Crankbait Snap www.vmchook.com that was was it. I had one stuck on a Clown X Rap that just came undone that I didn’t see. I’ve been battling some Blood Pressure problems and just haven’t felt good enough to get out-I think we are close to getting that taken care of. Thanks for visiting my site. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com
I fished with Jared Hollandsworth today on Tim’s. Jared and my youngest son Daniel grew up together-so we have known one another for a long time but this was the 1st time we have fished together. Jared had his “Personal Best” 20 inch Smallmouth today and I was elated. We fished hard for 7 hours and the ones above was our best for the day. Sufix 20lb Yellow Performance Braid with a 8lb Sufix Fluorocarbon leader www.sufix.com VMC 1/8 ounce Weedless Finesse Jig www.vmchooks.com and soft plastic. Water temp 48 degrees and lake elevation 874. No problem getting in at Lost Creek. Thanks for visiting my site. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com
For my out of state viewers, the Tennessee keeper length on Smallmouth is 18 inches which none of these made it. I just wanted to show 6 of the 8 that caught today and the baits I used. These were 12 to 16 inches. First everything was caught on either the Lurh Jensen Texas Red Crystal Speed Trap (it looks brown in the pic) but it is very red www.luhrjensen.com and a OG Tiny Coosa Special crankbaits. www.rapala.com All on Sufix 6lb test Clear Blue Pro mix Mono www.sufix.com and a VMC Crankbait Snap www.vmchooks.com Water temp was 49 degrees and the fish were very shallow–3 to 5 feet at the deepest. I threw several different deeper bait like the DT6 and DT8 but no results. Just a heads I wouldn’t use the State Park Ramp—Trailers are getting hung up. Thanks for looking Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com
Best 3 of 7 today on Tim’s—There was 3 boats of us fishing today and everyone struggled. I did have some 10- 12 inch Smallmouth on a OG Tiny Coosa Special www.rapala.com 6lb Sufix Clear Blue Pro Mix www.sufix.com They would absolutely attack the Tiny–it’s going to be a good one for you crankbait enthusiast. The 3 above came on Creek Minnows and a VMC Bait Keeper Hook www.vmc.com 6lb Pro mix as well. More next week after the deep freeze go’s away. Water temp today 52-52 no problem getting in at the Park. Thanks for visiting my site Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com
Long time friend Tim White and I fished together on Tim’s and Normandy over these past 2 days. Tim lives on Lake Hartwell in Georgia- we trade trips 2 times a year. I will be on Lake Hartwell Lord willing for 3 days in April 2023. To say it was tough over the past 2 days wouldn’t be saying enough, We started out on Tim’s Monday morning with a good cloud cover and had 6 in the first 45 minutes. Sun broke out and everything died at least for us. I think we had 2 or maybe 3 in the next 5 hours. Yesterday we fished Normandy and struggled around for a few hours until we got on a pattern around 1pm as the storm that was coming was bearing down on us. What you see above was the best out of 24 that we caught in the 2 days. I was really surprised on the Smallmouth-just couldn’t locate any even on finesse stuff. We used a variety of baits but the best for me was a Rapala DT8 Helsinki Shad-and a DT6 Parrot and a DT8 Red Craw www.rapala.com 6lb Test Sufix Pro Mix Clear Blue Mon www.sufix.com Water temps on both lakes in the 54-55 range. More next week Lord willing. Thank you for visiting my site. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com
